Man rescued after treading water for two hours near Huntington Harbor

Aug 24th, 2017 · Comments Off on Man rescued after treading water for two hours near Huntington Harbor

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Halibut with Tony White after they rescued him seven nautical miles south of Huntington Harbor August 24, 2017. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Mark Barney.

SAN PEDRO, Calif. — The Coast Guard rescued a 28-year-old male approximately seven nautical miles south of Huntington Harbor Thursday who had been treading water for 2 hours.

During a routine patrol at approximately 8:15 a.m., the Coast Guard Cutter Halibut located an unmanned 14-foot white dinghy circling in the water approximately five nautical miles south of Huntington Harbor.

In response to the UMIB, Air Rescue 5 located the male, wearing blue coveralls with no life jacket treading water approximately two miles south of where the dinghy was located, and deployed their swimmer to assist. The Halibut crew arrived on scene and retrieved the male with no reported injuries. The male reported that his vessel had hit a wave causing him to be ejected in the water.

The Station Los Angeles-Long beach response boat towed the dinghy to the Port of Los Angeles.

The Coast Guard urges mariners to always wear life jackets to increase the chance of survival during cases of emergency and bright-colored clothing to be more visible in the water.